And my baby turns ONE!

Oh how fast the year has gone.  My little cupcake just turned one.  Can you believe it?!  Me neither.  Amberlie is still my sweet and fiesty little baby.  She has such a cheerful disposition, and she handles the tough loving of her three big sisters with such grace.  I could sit and rock this bundle of joy all day if time permitted, but... time rarely permits it, or so it seems.  I cherish the evenings when Nick is putting the big girls to bed and I sneak away to my room to snuggle with Amberlie.  We usually spend time tickling and giggling and loving all over each other.  When Nick has successfully gotten three kids to sleep, I've usually wound the littlest one up a bit.  It's our special time together, and I love it.  She weighs 19 pounds and those cheeks are the only chubby thing on her.  At twelve months she has JUST two teeth poking through and hardly has a hair on her head.  She's taken a step or two, but so far she has little desire to take off walking.  I can't say I mind all that much.  If she truly is the last of our crew, I want these baby stages to last as long as possible.  Happy birthday, sweet little one.  I love you from the bottom of my heart.

Photo Shoot

Photo shoot in the living room!  We borrowed this backdrop to use for Amberlie's party (a month ago), but we forgot to take pictures in front of it.  I've left it hanging for the last four weeks, determined to get some photos.  Nick humored me by herding the girls in for some snapshots before church Sunday morning.  I would have loved to get more creative with the poses, but at this point, I just needed to get it done!  No posing needed.  These kids are undeniably the cutest little people in the world. 

Besties

Talk about BFF's...  Talullah is smitten with her cousin, Gillian.  She recently hung out with a different friend, and afterwards she told me, "When I play with her, sometimes we just don't know what to talk about.  When I'm with Gillian, we always know what to say."
That's what having a best friend is all about.  Never running out of things to talk about.

T-Ball

It's easy to get distracted in the outfield.

Gearing up.

Berlyn's fan club.

Coach James deserves coach of the year award.  The kids love him!

Eye on the ball, kid.

Talullah and Nick practicing for her game tomorrow.

 

I was a little hesitant to sign the girls up for their first sports adventure.  I knew it would mean hours of sitting and watching games 4 nights a week.  EEK!  And I am a firm believer that sports are very, very boring unless you're out on the field.  Or should I say, I WAS.  The first time we sat on the sidelines and watched Berlyn go up to bat in her Red Sox jersey, I fell in love with the game.  Who knew it would take T-ball to make me an enthusiast?!  Go team, Go!!!  I'm the crazy mom screaming to her kid out on the field.  "Yeah!  Hooray!  You're awesome, babe!"  or "Wait.  Can we stop the game so I can fix her hair a bit?" Berlyn has had so much fun playing T-ball.  She loves hitting the ball, and she is such an impressively aggressive player.  I love this kid.

S'more Time!!!

One of my very favorite things to do (in this entire world) is to make  s'mores.  The warmth of the fire.  The smell of smoke.  The burning of marshmellows.  The melting of chocolate.  The crunch of the graham cracker.  The absolute perfection of that little dessert sandwich is enough to make me feel complete in a world of confusion.  When life gets crazy, let's make s'mores.

Get those eggs!

I've sometimes wondered how this little girl can reach all the way in and gather the eggs.  Today I found out.  She actually uses the bottom latch and crawls under the chicken coop.  These girls aren't afraid to get dirty.

All starry eyed

I absolutely love seeing the look of adoration on my girls faces when they listen to their dad sing and play guitar.  Often, one of them will ask me to put on his cd while we're driving in the car.  It never gets old.  "I know, girls.  Your dad is pretty amazing.  That's why I picked him."

Havanna at dinner

Seriously, she was talking one minute, asleep the next.  Kids can sleep in the most peculiar positions.  That does not look comfortable AT ALL.